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Manhattanville hockey player bounces back from 6 knee surgeries to lead team

A single major knee injury can be enough to halt an athlete's career, but one local hockey player hasn't let several stop her from becoming a top offensive threat.

Manhattanville College women's hockey player Amanda Sabia tore her ACL, MCL and meniscus at 14. She then suffered three ACL tears to her other knee over the following four years. In total, Sabia had six knee surgeries over five years.

Despite all of her setbacks, Sabia says she was always confident she would play again.

Manhattanville coach David Turco gave her a chance to play for the Valiants despite her medical history.

"The way that she can recover from injuries, sometimes season-ending injuries, even career-ending injuries ... she never gets held back, she's a pretty special kid," says Turco.

Sabia has 11 goals in 12 games so far this season. Those numbers place her as the team's leading goal scorer. She sits among the top 10 in goals per game in DIII women's hockey.

"It's really awesome to have somebody work that hard and puts in that much effort and commits themselves to the team," says Manhattanville hockey player Nicole Mensi. "Because she wants to be in the lineup and wants to be contributing and we need her in the lineup."